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The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry understands that the quality of life in our state depends on quality jobs for Missourians. To that end, we have one simple mission: to protect and advance Missouri business.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry welcomes Brad Green as the organization’s new Director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs.

Brad Green joins the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s legislative affairs department, joining efforts to protect and advance Missouri business by advocating for pro-business legislation and policy in the State Capitol. He works directly with the state’s elected officials to help ensure the business community is represented as proposed laws advance through the legislative process. He focuses on these issues: Transportation, Health Care and Regulatory Affairs.

Green brings to the Missouri Chamber valuable experience in the legislative arena. Most recently, he served as the legislative director for Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey and as executive director for the Missouri Senate Campaign Committee during the 2014 election cycle. Prior to these roles, Green served as chief of staff to Senator Gary Romine and Chief of Staff to Sen. Kevin Engler.

Green earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and a Bachelor of Arts in Corporate Communications and Public Affairs from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. Green is a native of Farmington, Missouri.

Brendan Cossette has been named the chief operating officer of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the state’s largest business association representing more than 50,000 Missouri employers. In his new role, Cossette will provide strategic leadership and day-to-day operational direction to senior management and staff across the Missouri Chamber organization. In addition to directing daily operations and overseeing back-office support functions, Cossette will ensure the Missouri Chamber team is working together toward the Missouri Chamber mission to advocate and support employers and position Missouri as the leading place in the world to do business.

“The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry has undergone significant growth in the last year as a result of the implementation of our strategic plan, Missouri 2030,” said Dan Mehan, Missouri Chamber president and CEO. “Because of the strong support from Missouri employers, we are fortunate to continue to expand our operation. Brendan is a strong addition to our Missouri Chamber team, and as COO, Brendan will ensure that growth is strategic and sustainable.

Cossette brings to the Missouri Chamber more than 12 years of lobbying and management experience working with the Missouri Legislature, advocacy organizations and private industry. An attorney, Cossette held several positions as support to the Missouri Legislature, including serving in the role of chief of staff for former Senate Presidents Pro Tem Charlie Shields and Michael Gibbons. In addition, Cossette previously served as director of legislative affairs and assistant general counsel for the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

From 2011-2013, Cossette headed up TMC Innovation for Truman Medical Centers, an initiative to promote healthy lifestyle behavior and economic development within Kansas City’s urban core. Since 2013, Cossette has been a lobbyist with a primary focus on health care.

“It’s an exciting time to be a part of the Missouri Chamber,” said Cossette. “The Missouri Chamber is recognized as one of the most respected and effective lobbying forces in Missouri and is well-positioned to become an even stronger power for Missouri employers through the direction of its strategic plan, Missouri 2030. I look forward to working with the Missouri Chamber staff as we grow and expand our services to our members.”

Cossette has a bachelor’s of art and a law degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia

JEFFERSON CITY — A new state audit will investigate Missouri’s Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board, which describes itself as operating at a “sub-par level.” With many Missouri companies continuing to struggle under unfair regulations, it’s time for the state to finally stand up for small business and re-energize this critical board.

In announcing the audit, Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway noted “dysfunction” on the board and said the board’s current state was “unacceptable” and a “disservice” to Missouri’s business community. When it was created, the Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board was intended to act as a voice for small businesses in Missouri, ensuring small business interests are considered when state officials craft rules and regulations.

However, the board is currently hampered by a lack of new appointments to fill previous members’ expired terms. The inaction on the board comes as only 16 percent of Missouri business leaders say they are satisfied with how the state regulates businesses, according to a recent statewide Gallup survey of business leaders as part of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s Missouri 2030 strategic plan.

“For too long, Missouri bureaucrats have ignored the interests of small businesses and have continually enacted harmful regulations that make it difficult these job creators to even keep the doors open,” said Daniel P. Mehan, President and CEO of the Missouri Chamber. “The Small Business Regulatory Fairness Board is a powerful tool that can help solve this problem and make sure our state is respecting our most important source of new job creation. We welcome the state auditor’s work to investigate the board’s current state and we hope this action spurs new activity to protect our vital small businesses.”

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the largest business association in Missouri. Together, with the Missouri Chamber Federation, the Missouri Chamber represents more than 50,000 employers.

“The ‘Show Me Your Lawsuits State’ has a reputation for a judicial nominating process hijacked by the plaintiff’s bar, a state high court that issues outlier decisions and strikes down civil justice reforms, and a lax standard for admission of expert testimony that allows ‘junk science’ into courts,’” reads the executive summary of the report.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been very vocal about the erosion of Missouri’s civil justice system that has grossly tipped the scales against Missouri’s job creators.

“The facts cited in ATRA’s report are all too familiar to those of us who are fighting to right Missouri’s unbalanced civil justice system at the state capitol and in the courts,” said Dan Mehan, president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber. “Our inaction toward addressing basic, common-sense tort reforms in Missouri is gaining national attention and that is costing our state jobs and opportunity.”

It’s not just political insiders that have taken notice. Missouri CEOs are deeply concerned. According to a recent Missouri 2030 Gallup survey of more than 1,000 Missouri CEOs and business owners, less than one in four Missouri employers are satisfied with the state’s litigation climate.

Ensure that only qualified professionals are allowed to testify as expert witnesses in cases, an ongoing problem that was brought to light in the Greer v. Sysco decision.

Reform Missouri’s collateral source standard and allow juries the full scope of information in determining an injured worker’s award, including the amount the worker received in medical insurance, workers’ compensation or other third party sources.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the largest business association in Missouri. Together, with the Missouri Chamber Federation, the Missouri Chamber represents more than 50,000 employers.

With 2015 coming to a close, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry is celebrating its largest ever year of expansion. By year’s end, the Missouri Chamber’s pro-business coalition will have grown to include more than 75 local chambers and 50,000 Missouri employers in communities across the state.

For the first time in 2016, this new Missouri Chamber-led business alliance will focus on enacting critically-needed pro-business legislation intended to move Missouri into a leadership position in the national and global economies.

“Less than a year ago, the Missouri Chamber announced our groundbreaking, research-driven strategic plan—Missouri 2030: An Agenda to Lead. According to our strategy, one of Missouri’s most important drivers to economic success in 2030 is a united voice for business,” said Daniel P. Mehan, Missouri Chamber President and CEO. “Since then, we have been asking local chambers of commerce and their members to look beyond their regional economies and join us in working for a stronger Missouri through our Missouri Chamber Federation. Already, 75 local chambers, representing tens of thousands of Missouri employers, have joined our federation and coalesced around a set of shared legislative priorities for 2016. Never before has such a broad, powerful pro-business coalition focused its attention on the state capitol. With this united voice, we eagerly await the beginning of the 2016 Legislative Session.”

The leading issues Missouri business community’s will work together to address:

Investing in transportation infrastructure

Supporting Missouri’s emerging job creators

Transforming our workforce training efforts

Fixing Missouri’s job-killing legal climate

Enacting right-to-work protections for Missouri workers

Reforming Missouri’s worker’s compensation system

“We need to make sure that we are speaking loudly and clearly for the business community to get the things done that we want and need done. If we don’t, who will?” said Lara Vermillion, president of the Blue Springs Chamber of Commerce. “This effort is critically important. I want to thank the Missouri Chamber for stepping up and organizing this impactful voice for business. They did the research and developed Missouri 2030. They have the ability to pull the whole state together so we can work as one force through businesses and local chambers.”

Investing in transportation infrastructure

Following years of inaction, Missouri is closer than ever to a transportation crisis. By 2017, the state anticipates having just $325 million to spend annually on transportation infrastructure, down from an annual budget of $1.3 billion just a few years ago. Without a new funding plan, a majority of Missouri’s roads will face deteriorating conditions. Some bridges may have to close.

Already, only 37 percent of Missouri business leaders are satisfied with the condition of Missouri’s transportation infrastructure, according to the Missouri 2030 Gallup survey. A 2015 study by TRIP, a national research group, showed that 22 percent of Missouri’s major roads and highways are in poor condition with an additional 48 percent of the state’s major roads are rated as mediocre or fair. Only 30 percent of Missouri roads are rated in good condition. TRIP’s data shows that Missouri’s current road conditions are costing the state $4.5 billion annually.

“If Missouri is going to benefit from our most powerful geographic asset—our central location—we need to have a world-class transportation system. Businesses need reliable infrastructure to operate efficiently and grow. That’s true in St. Joseph and it’s true in every part of Missouri,” said Patt Lilly, president and CEO of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. “Transportation is an area where our state’s investments pay back twofold. They pay back immediately in terms of dollars spent locally on engineering work and construction. They also pay back in the long term as businesses benefit from infrastructure improvements and grow jobs in Missouri. Our state desperately needs to solve this funding crisis and the Missouri business community will be actively pushing for answers in 2016.”

While passage of the federal transportation bill recently signed into law by President Obama is good news for Missouri, the state will still need to raise the funds to fully match federal dollars. Even then, the funding available will not be enough to fully invest in Missouri’s most critical infrastructure needs.

Supporting Missouri’s emerging job creators

Fostering Missouri’s small businesses and entrepreneurs is a critical part of Missouri’s economic future. Missouri needs to expand flexible capital available to business start-ups. One proven method is the Missouri Technology Corporation, a public-private partnership created by the Missouri General Assembly to promote entrepreneurship and foster the growth of new and emerging high-tech companies.

“Investment in the Missouri Technology Corporation has paid big dividends to our state. In fact, the Missouri Technology Corporation is recognized as the leading venture capital investor in the Mid-West over the last five years. MTC programs are proven catalysts for bringing private capital and entrepreneurs from around the world to our region to create companies and high-paying jobs,” said Joe Reagan, President and CEO of the St. Louis Regional Chamber.

Investment also is needed in rural Missouri markets. The Missouri Chamber also will be supporting the Show-Me Rural Jobs Act to attract venture and risk capital to invest in rural manufacturing, ag-tech, plant sciences and high-tech sectors.

Transforming our workforce training efforts

Missouri employers are deeply concerned about the state’s workforce. The Missouri Chamber’s Gallup research revealed a wide gap between what employers need for their workforce and students work-ready job skills. The Missouri 2030 Gallup survey showed that only 15 percent of business leaders in the state agree that high schools are preparing students for the workforce.

The Missouri business community relies heavily on this public education system to prepare tomorrow’s workers. However, given the current funding and performance challenges, business leaders are also investing time and resources to develop training systems to ensure our workforce is truly ready for work. Missouri’s business community is working to find ways to maximize our state’s investment in our education system and develop innovative ideas beyond the traditional classroom setting to better prepare our workforce.

“Missouri workers are among the best in the world yet what we hear from employers again and again is that they can’t find the skilled workers they need,” said Matt Morrow, president and CEO of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce. “In fact, it’s not a lack of business but a lack of skilled employees that holds businesses back. When training and skills match employer needs, Missouri becomes more attractive to new businesses and perhaps more importantly, existing businesses can expand and thrive. Our current workforce preparation system is incomplete and we are lagging behind what other states offer. The Missouri business community is united on this front and we are looking for strong progress in 2016.”

Fixing Missouri’s job-killing legal climate

The litigious climate in Missouri is harmful to our current business community and is a hindrance to attracting growth opportunities. In a 2015 study, Missouri’s litigation climate ranked 42nd out of all 50 states according to the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform. The Missouri 2030 Gallup survey found that less than one in four Missouri employers are satisfied with the state’s litigation climate.

A broad array of reforms are needed. Missouri must align our discrimination standards with federal law, ensure civil lawsuits are capped at a reasonable level and eliminate the joint and several liability standard, which incentivizes lawyers to drag businesses into costly lawsuits.

Missouri legislators must also address problems caused by recent Missouri Supreme Court decisions as well as respond to problems identified in pending cases. The business community also seeks reforms that ensure that only qualified professionals are allowed to testify as expert witnesses in cases. Another common-sense piece of legislation would reform Missouri’s collateral source standard and allow juries the full scope of information in determining an injured worker’s award, including the amount the worker received in medical insurance, workers’ compensation or other third party sources.

“There are so many positive aspects about Missouri that help us in our work to attract growth opportunities to the Joplin region. However, Missouri’s litigation climate is a major problem that incents businesses to either locate across the state line or in another region entirely,” said Rob O’Brian, president of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce. “We are simply asking for reasonable reforms to return equity to our state’s legal system and improve our national reputation. Communities across the state are hurting due to our unfair legal climate and we are united in fixing this issue in 2016.”

Enacting right-to-work protections for Missouri employers

In 2015, the Missouri General Assembly approved right-to-work protections for Missouri employees only to have the bill fail following a veto from the governor. Right-to-work would give workers in Missouri the power to decide whether or not they want to belong to a labor union. Current law forces many Missourians to join unions and pay dues simply based on where they work.

Right-to-work status is an important factor for site selectors who help growing companies choose a location for expansion projects. Each year that Missouri fails to enact a right-to-work statute means more missed opportunities for job creation in our state.

“With 25 states boasting right-to-work protections, Missouri needs this statute to begin to compete for many job creation efforts,” said Mehan. “Every community in Missouri that is competing for employment expansion projects needs our state law to work for us—not against us.”

Reforming the workers’ compensation system

Reforming Missouri’s workers’ compensation system requires a careful balance to ensure injured workers are protected without causing harm to the state’s business community and job creation efforts. In the last decade, Missouri courts have played a large role in eroding that balance.

Another decision in 2014, the Missouri Supreme Court’s Templemire decision, undid 30 years of established case law and made it easier for dismissed employees to claim retaliatory discharge against their former employers.

Employers in many Missouri communities are struggling under these decisions. The Missouri business community is asking the legislature to clarify the state’s workers’ compensation laws and restore fairness to the system.

“Workers’ compensation reform is a complex subject matter in Missouri and the state’s business community stands ready to assist our lawmakers as they discuss this important topic,” said Angie Thomas, executive director of the Sedalia Area Chamber of Commerce. “It’s a bottom-line issue for our members and every court case that unfairly tips the balance against employers means less money available for new jobs, wage increases, added benefits or expansions. As a united business community, we are asking the legislature to address these cases early in 2016.”

These are the highlights of a few of the leading issues that the Missouri Chamber Federation and the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be working toward in the upcoming session. Other issues among the Missouri Chamber Federation priorities are addressing the need for streamlined internet sales tax and reducing business fees.

JEFFERSON CITY — Employees can now receive workers’ compensation benefits years after some injury claims are settled as a result of a Dec. 8 ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court. The decision in Greer v. Sysco Foods exposes Missouri employers to significantly increased workers’ compensation liability.

“We believe the Supreme Court is wrong in its decision to affirm the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission’s overreach in this case,” said Daniel P. Mehan, Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry president and CEO. “We will be taking this issue to the Missouri Legislature to address in the upcoming session.”

The Missouri Chamber Legal Foundation had weighed in on the case with an amicus brief in support of the employer’s lawsuit.

The Greer case involves a foot and ankle injury sustained in a 2006 forklift accident. The worker was awarded temporary total disability benefits as he was treated for his injury. Once doctors determined the injury had improved as much as possible, the temporary benefits ended and the worker was awarded continuing permanent disability pay. Three years later, the employee opted to receive additional medical care, and the employee petitioned to amend his award. The state’s Labor and Industrial Relations Commission chose to award additional temporary total disability payments to the worker after doctors had determined that he had reached the point of maximum medical improvement.

“This ruling should send shivers down the spines of Missouri employers. Temporary disability payments are capped at 400 weeks for extreme cases and the Supreme Court has given a roadmap for claimants and trial attorneys to maximize those awards – even after a worker has recovered the best he or she can,” said Mehan.

“Businesses have long worked through the state’s existing system to ensure a fair resolution is reached. The Greer v. Sysco Food Services case could make that resolution a thing of the past and fundamentally alter the concept of temporary disability. We will urge the Missouri Legislature to clarify the law to keep temporary disability payments as they should be—temporary.”

The case also brings to light the need for legislative reform in how expert witnesses are used in court. The Supreme Court relied on the worker’s family doctor for evidence that he had not reached full recovery.

“A family doctor is not a specialist and should not have been allowed to shape the decision in this case,” Mehan said.

The Missouri Chamber Legal Foundation is an affiliate of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the largest business association in Missouri. Together, with the Missouri Chamber Federation, the Missouri Chamber represents more than 50,000 employers.

With the goal of taking their concerns to the people that can make change in Washington DC, nearly 30 Missouri Chamber members travelled to our nation’s capital to take part in the inaugural Missouri-DC Fly-In.

“It’s better that you are here than almost any time I can think of,” said U.S. Chamber President Tom Donohue as he welcomed the Missouri delegation to the U.S. Chamber offices, home to one of the strongest federal advocacy groups in Washington DC.

Donohue pointed to several looming deadlines, including the reauthorization of the transportation bill and addressing the debt ceiling. He also discussed one critical deadline that lawmakers have missed – the reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, which expired June 30.

“Washington DC is not functioning the way we need it to function – if we are going to get a budget, if we are going to deal with transportation, if we want to advance exporting and energy, if we want to save Ex-Im Bank – your voices need to be heard.”

Experts from the U.S. Chamber staff spent a morning bringing participants up to speed and speaking candidly on the federal issues and they underscored the importance of employers speaking directly with members of Congress.

“You are much more influential than we are when it comes to advocating your specific needs,” Donohue said. “You don’t have to be angry, you don’t have to be difficult, you just need to tell them how (it is).”

Missouri Chamber members then went to Capitol Hill to speak directly with Missouri members of Congress and their staff. Rep. Lacy Clay, Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, Sen. Roy Blunt and Rep. Vickie Hartzler met one on one with Missouri Chamber members. Staff from the offices of Rep. Billy Long, Rep. Sam Graves and Sen. Claire McCaskill were able to meet and answer questions for the group.

No matter what side of the aisle, members of the Missouri Congressional delegation agreed that a long-term transportation plan has to be addressed.

“There are several long-term highway bills that could come to the floor,” said Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver, a Democrat from Kansas City. “One of the problems is that many representatives have signed a pledge that they will never support a tax increase under any circumstance. It’s almost impossible to do anything on transportation unless you do something more administratively cumbersome like assessing a fee on miles driven or through tolls.”

There was bipartisan support for reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank and our members of Congress voiced their frustration that the deadline was allowed to pass.

“We are losing jobs and opportunities by the thousands because of the stupidity of those who are opposing reauthorization,” said Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, a Republican from St. Elizabeth. “It’s been an uphill struggle trying to get the truth out about this issue.”

Luetkemeyer pointed to the 1,800 Missouri suppliers who provide parts to one of Missouri’s largest exporters, The Boeing Company. Boeing relies on the Export-Import Bank.

Despite the need to discuss tough issues, Missouri’s members of Congress made participants feel welcomed, opening up their offices and Washington DC venues for guests. Rep. Vickie Hartzler, a Republican from a rural community south of Kansas City, helped arrange the first evening’s function in the historic U.S. Botanic Garden.

“It’s exciting that the Missouri Chamber and all these employers from Missouri are here,” Hartzler said. “It’s important for us to hear from our job creators. I want to be supportive and help create jobs and hear from those employers that are making it work.”

The inaugural Missouri-DC Fly-In was a productive and enjoyable trip. The Missouri Chamber is looking forward to another trip next year. For more information, contact Tammy Long at tlong@mochamber.com or by phone at 573-634-3511.